Family Secrets
by TheBoglies
Summary: Its now 14 years on and we are in the year of 2018. Archie and Lexie moved away from Glenbogle 13 years ago when their son Duncan was born (yes they decided to name him after Duncan, Lexie’s ‘wee man’).
1. Part 1

Family Secrets  
  
Setting the scene...  
  
Its now 14 years on and we are in the year of 2018. Archie and Lexie moved away from Glenbogle 13 years ago when their son Duncan was born (yes they decided to name him after Duncan, Lexie's 'wee man'). Archie decided they needed to get right away in order to let Paul have a good start at being laird. Lexie had always dreamed of going to Australia so after some careful planning they decided to move there to Newcastle N.S.W. Archie and Lexie had decided to set up there own business of running on of the harbour side hotels and they had a beautiful home. Duncan grew up there, although Archie and Lexie had decided they weren't going to tell Duncan about his origins or of his father being the laird of Glenbogle back in Scotland, for fear it would confuse things for both Duncan and Paul back home and his wife Isobel and their children. Therefore Duncan grew up in Australia as if he had been born there, he developed an Aussie accent and knew nothing of Glenbogle. He knew his mother and father were from Scotland as Lexie still carried her strong accent with her, and Archie never adapted his to the Australian one, but he simply thought they had just immigrated over here. Molly came over once or twice, but apart from that Duncan didn't really know his grandmother, apart from what his mother and father had told him. Then 5 years later, Archie and Lexie decided they wanted another child and so they had a little girl named Shelley. Now in the year 2018, Shelley is 8 years old and has black hair like her father, with her mother's facial features. Duncan is 13 and the spitting image of his father Archie. There was a lot of sibling rivalry between the two, as Duncan had always been used to being an only child all the years before Shelley was born. And being the youngest Shelley automatically was thought of as the innocent one and could do nothing wrong, which often caused Duncan to have some hatred towards his younger sister. But would it be like this forever, if Duncan found out about his family secret?  
  
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Start of the summer holidays in the month of December...  
  
"Morning Sweetheart" Archie said coming down to breakfast to greet his wife. Lexie handed him a cup of tea. "Morning" she smiled. "Where are the kids?" Archie asked noticing that neither Duncan nor Shelley were around. "Oh Duncan took Shell down to the beach early this morning" Lexie said clearing away the breakfast dishes from earlier. "Oh of course, it's the school holidays now" Archie remembered "Yes we now have six weeks of them at home" she laughed, dreading it. "Still it will be nice, maybe we can spend some time together as a family," Archie commented while drinking his tea. "Right" Lexie agreed, kissing Archie on the cheek "I'm off to get dressed" "Ok then...Oh by the way I e-mailed Paul this morning" Archie said calling back to her. Lexie came back "Oh did you... what did you say?" Archie laughed, knowing that his wife was always interested in the goings on at Glenbogle. "Asked him how he was doing, how Isobel was and the kids. Oh and I asked him if he had heard anything from Duncan about the baby." Archie finished looking at his wife's excited expression. "I can't believe Duncan and Jess are going to have a baby," she laughed. "Well they had to get round to it someday" Archie laughed "Well tell me when he e-mails back," Lexie said taking a second attempt to go upstairs.  
  
After a while Lexie came back downstairs. "So what do you want to do today?" Lexie asked coming back through to sit with Archie in the kitchen. "I was thinking we could go to King Edward Park, take some cardboard for sliding down the hills. We haven't done that since the kids were little" Archie said smiling. "Yeah sounds like fun," Lexie said making her self a drink. The back door opened and a soaking wet Shelley came in crying. Lexie turned her attention to her child. "Mummy" Shelley said crying and hugging her tight around her waist. "Duncan pushed me in the water" she cried. Lexie looked up at Duncan standing Guilty at the door. "She only went under for like a couple of seconds, I pulled her back up," he said quietly. "Arch, go fetch a towel" Lexie ordered Archie as he jumped up to go get a towel. "Duncan you know your sister has a fear of the water, why an earth would you do such a thing!" Lexie scolded. "I was only having a bit of fun," Duncan replied grumpily, as he ignored his mother and went out of the room. "Come here, your alright now, don't worry" Lexie said talking to Shelley and wiping her tears. Archie came through with a towel and wrapped it round his daughter, picking her up. "Come on, lets go get you a nice bath" Archie said taking her upstairs.  
  
Duncan slumped down in front of the computer. "Stupid Shelley, always getting their attention" he said angrily to himself. He switched on the computer, and slammed the door shut as he heard his father singing a little song to Shelley as he carried her to the bathroom "Snow white, Snow white, Shelley is my little Snow white" Duncan could hear Archie singing to her. "Hmm Snow white, maybe I can get a poisonous apple for her to eat" Duncan said to himself, as the computer logged on to the e-mail. "Oh dad's been on here again," he said to himself, as he went to log out of Archie's account.  
  
He scanned the page quickly as he hovered the mouse over the exit button. His eyes immediately went to a message from his uncle Paul. Paul often e- mailed his nephew Duncan, but this was a message between two brothers and Duncan couldn't resist his curiosity towards it, so without hesitation he clicked on the e-mail and started to read the e-mail.  
  
Hey Arch,  
Thanks for asking, yes Isobel and the kids are fine, and I hope Lexie, Duncan and Shelley are ok too. You will never believe what happened in Glenbogle today, well being the laird I had to attend the meeting in the village hall. Well you will never guess whom I saw there! Katrina! Yep, turns out she's back visiting Maureen for a while. Word has it she just got divorced, something about her husband not being able to keep up with her demands! (I'm not surprised, from what you and Lexie have told me about her) Turns out Maureen has been sending Katrina letters all this time, she knew all about me coming back to Glenbogle, you going with Lizzie to Nepal for months and leaving Lexie in charge of the house, and about you giving up your laird title and immigrating to Australia! Anyways Duncan tells me Jess is nearly to the end of her term now and should be having the baby soon! I bet Lexie is excited, I know how she gets about things like this.  
  
Talk soon hopefully.  
  
Paul  
  
Duncan looked at the e-mail confused. Laird? What was that? And what was Paul on about him being a laird? Who is this Katrina woman and how come both his mother and father know about her? What is Glenbogle? Is it a place? So many questions went through Duncan's head; he was just about to read another e-mail when he heard a knock at the door. Quickly he turned the computer screen off. Archie came into the room, "Duncan, can you go and help your mother downstairs, we are going to King Edward" he asked waiting by the door. Duncan worriedly looked back at the computer screen, he hadn't realised he had only switched off the screen when he got up off the chair quickly to go and help his mother downstairs. 


	2. Part 2

Family Secrets – Part 2  
  
The park was reasonably full with families having picnics; Archie went up around the hill and parked in the entrance park that overlooked the beach. "This looks like a good spot" He announced, opening the door and hoping out. The kids grabbed the boxes and ran over to the hill. It was steep but they knew that once they got over the first bit it would be smooth sailing. Lexie stood watching with her husband, a smile on her face. "Aren't you two coming?" Shelley asked "I dunno..." Lexie resisted "Come on" Archie laughed dragging her by the arm to sit on the piece of box that Shelley had lined up for them. "Archie...Archie I don't know if this...." Lexie's reservations were drowned out as they gained momentum down the hill. The cardboard hit a patch of grass and changed direction "I'm gonna kill you Arch" Lexie muttered holding on tight "Carn Lex, where's your sense of adventure?" Archie teased, putting on his imitation of an Aussie accent Lexie just shook her head and muttered under her breath. Shelley went flying past them and then tumbled off into the grass "You okay?" Archie checked "Yeah fine. That was fun, I'm going again!" she screamed running back up towards the top "We're raising a bunch of hoons" Archie commented Lexie shook her head "You're influence not mine" Suddenly they reached the bottom of the hill, the grass changed direction again and turned them so they were going backwards. Lexie screamed as they both went flying off the cardboard and Archie ended up on top of her. Lexie gasped as the wind was knocked out of her "You right?" Archie laughed staring down at her Lexie grinned "Yeah. Shelley's right that is kinda fun" Archie laughed rolling off her "I knew you'd come around" They looked at each other and laughed at their appearance. They had grass all over them "I'm glad I wore jeans" Lexie commented, "I don't think anything else would have survived." Archie grinned as they began the trudge back up to the top. Lexie glanced around when they got there and raised her eyebrows "Where's Duncan?" "I don't know" Archie answered, he looked around but only saw Shelley down the bottom of the hill "Shell" He called out "Where's your brother?" "Said he was goin down to the pavilion" she yelled back "Ok." Archie answered "You want to stay here with her while I go get him?" He asked "Yeah okay" Lexie echoed  
  
Archie walked down the path towards the pavilion and saw Duncan sitting on the steps his chin in his hands. "Hey" Archie smiled "Oh hey Dad. What's up?" "Not much" Archie shrugged "why aren't you up there with you're sister?" "Don't feel like it" "You'd rather sit down here by yourself?" Archie asked incredulously Duncan shrugged "Do you want to go?" Archie prompted "Yeah" "Okay, come on- let's get the girls" They walked back up the hill and found Lexie and Shelley giggling as they rolled down the hill "Come on you two, we're off. It's getting cold" "Awwww" they whined Archie rolled his eyes and opened the car. The traffic was atrocious, he groaned as he looked at the clock- 5 pm. Peak hour traffic...on a Friday. Suddenly he found that he had to merge in to he other lane "What's going on? "Lexie asked "I don't know" Archie replied The kids saw it first, two crashed cars on each side of the road into Maryville. "Oh bugger!" Duncan exclaimed One car was an older Holden with a mother and teenager in it and the other that had the entire front smashed in was a very done up P plater's pride and joy. "That'll cost a wee bit" Lexie murmured "They would have been on their way to the parade," Duncan added, "now they're screwed" Archie glanced over his shoulder "What do you know about the parade?" Duncan shrugged innocently "Josh's brother goes in it" Archie sent him one last look before turning back to the traffic. Duncan breathed out in relief. The parade was a reference to the Friday late night parade of revved up cars of all the local adolescences around the foreshore. It was a meet and greet between all the local youth at around 11pm before they went clubbing. Everyone was 18 or above and it was pretty packed. Finally they were home....... 


	3. Part 3

Family Secrets – Part 3  
  
Now they were home, as soon as Archie pulled the car up on the drive, both Duncan and Shelley raced inside. "No Shell out the way" Duncan yelled as they both tried to get in the door at the same time. "No Duncan, let me in first" Shelley yelled back, trying to squeeze through the door. "Hey come on you two don't fight" Lexie called back from the car. Duncan had one last strong attempt and got through. He bounded upstairs, taking them two at a time. He knew he had to get back on that computer and find out more, he couldn't stop thinking about it all day. Shelley was close behind him; he could hear her yelling his name as she followed him. He reached the door to the computer room and ran in and slammed it shut right in Shelley's face. He heard her muffled crying behind the door, and could see the handle moving as she tried to get in. He stood with his back against the door, as he tried to reach the computer screen. "Dun...can! Let...me... in" Shelley was screaming behind the door. "No Shell, go away" Duncan screamed back. His hand reached out as far as he could, "nearly there...just a little bit more...ah there we go" Duncan said to himself as he strained to reach the computer screen, while holding the door.  
  
The screen flashed on and again Duncan saw the e-mail from his uncle Paul come up on the screen. Shelley was still screaming outside so he knew his father would be up soon. Quickly Duncan hit the print button and then exited the e-mail. Shelley was quiet now and he could hear his fathers voice coming up the stairs. "Come on, come on PRINT! PRINT!" Duncan shouted at the movement of the printer. Just as he heard footsteps coming up to the door, and the door handle turned and opened. Duncan snatched the piece of paper from the printer and hid it behind his back. "Hey dad what's up?" Duncan smiled a fake smile. Archie looked around suspicious, "Duncan" he said deepening his voice. "What?" Duncan alleged worriedly back quickly. "Why wouldn't you let your sister in here?" Archie asked as Shelley appeared behind his legs. Duncan gave Shelley an evil stare, "She can come in here" Duncan said relaxed. "YEY" Shelley yelled jumping behind Archie. Duncan pushed pass them both "I'm now leaving".  
  
Shelley dropped her smile. "But I wanted to play with Duncan, daddy" Shelley said tearfully looking up at Archie. "Come on princess, why don't you go see if your mother will play" Archie said leading Shelley back down the stairs.  
  
Later that night in bed... "Lex" Archie said turning over to face his wife. "Hmm..." Lexie said placing her head on Archie's chest, as she closed her eyes. "I'm worried about Duncan" Archie spoke stroking Lexie's hair. She held her head up and looked into his eyes "Worried about him?" she said shocked. "Yeah...well I mean he hasn't been himself today...going off by himself, not wanting to play with Shell or spend time with us. And earlier I went in to the computer room and he was acting really weird" Archie said confused. "It's properly just a phase" Lexie said shutting her eyes again, "Go ta sleep" Archie didn't say any more but he felt Lexie fall asleep, carefully he lifted her off him and laid her down on her side. He then turned over and lay awake worrying.  
  
Next morning... Lexie was down in the kitchen getting breakfast ready. "Duncan! Shelley! Breakfast!" Lexie shouted from the bottom of the stairs. She laughed as she saw Shelley come down the stairs. "What have ya done ya Bampot" Lexie giggled at Shelley's appearance which consisted of wonky pink pig tails, then dressed in a pink top with blue shorts. "I got dressed myself," Shelley said proudly. Archie then walked down the stairs "Been taking fashion tips from your mother have you Shell?" Archie laughed. Lexie gave him a cheeky smile "Watch it you" she laughed. "Arch you staying for breakfast?" Lexie asked as he got to the bottom. "No I have to just go and pop into the hotel for a few hours" he smiled kissing his wife goodbye. "Ok then see you later" she laughed giving him a little tap on his bum. "Shell do you want some raison toast?" Lexie asked opening the cupboard. "Nah, it's too hot, can I have a mango instead please," Shelley said doing a cheesy smile. "Ok then, well sit yourself down at the table and I'll get ya one" Lexie whispered laughing. Duncan came into the room carrying a book. "Do ya want any brecci mate?" Lexie asked trying to fit in with her son. "No thanks mum, I'm doing history homework" Duncan replied trying to sound believable. "I see..." Lexie laughed. "Actually mum, could you help me" Duncan asked hopeful. Lexie laughed but was happy at the fact that her son had asked her to help. "Yeah sure honey" Lexie said sitting down. "Ok... What's a laird? That's the first question," Duncan asked smiling. Lexie's stomach turned, "Erm...a laird" she said chocking on her drink. "Yeah a laird" Duncan said smiling; trying not to let out that it wasn't anything to do with his homework. "Let me see" Lexie said trying to take his book. "NO, No mum" Duncan said shutting it quick. "Don't you know?" he asked again, his brown eyes wondering. "Well yes I think it's a land owner of a large estate...but that's more in Scotland...why are you doing it for your homework here?" Lexie said confused. "Thanks mum" Duncan said getting up quickly and walking out the room. Lexie stood there confused. "Mummy? Mum? Hey mum!" Shelley shouted trying to get her attention. "What, Oh?" Lexie said coming back to reality. "My mango?" Shelley asked sweetly. "Oh yeah sorry honey, I'll just get it" Lexie said getting up. 


	4. Part 4

Family Secrets – Part 4  
  
Lexie fetched a mango from the carton on the bench and expertly sliced it once on the left of the core and once on the right. Then pulling the sides off spliced the flesh into checkerboard like squares before handing it to Shelley. 'Why would Duncan want to know about Lairds? That was not something that was taught in Australian schools...' She looked at her daughter and shook her head. In the small amount of time that Shelley had had the mango she had managed to make a complete mess of herself, it was running off her fingers and was all over her face. "Bath time Hun" She smiled, "Go on up the stairs now" Shelley grinned through the remaining orange flesh of the now demolished mango. She didn't argue but obediently trooped up the stairs. In the summer any excuse to have a bath, shower, swim or anything to do with water was a blessing not a hindrance. Lexie walked up behind her, stopping to peep in on Duncan. He was sitting at his desk reading. Her brow creased 'something just wasn't right' It wasn't until she had seen Shelley into the bathroom and was folding up her pajamas that it finally hit her. 'Why would Duncan have any homework at all? They had just started the Christmas holidays! It wasn't like the Scottish holidays that lasted two weeks, this lasted six weeks and then they moved up to the next grade.' She stomped into his room and walked up to him without him noticing. He jumped, as she pounced "You don't have history homework Duncan." "Yeah I do Mum" he insisted "How can you? It's the holidays!" "Um..." Duncan's eyes flew around his room and landed on a picture of the highlands "It's for a cultural day. You know cause you and dad are from Scotland I have to research a bit" Lexie narrowed her eyes at him but was interrupted by Shelley's call "Mum I can't find my swimmers" Lexie sighed, "We'll talk about this later" she declared turning away from Duncan and walking into the other room. He briefly heard her tell his sister "They're on the verandah you loon. Where you left them after the beach yesterday" 'Sometimes having Shelley around did come in handy' Duncan thought 'at least he had a distraction now to get onto the computer again'  
  
Lexie was hanging out the washing on the hills hoist out the back when Archie came up behind her "Hey Sweetie. How's things?" Lexie laughed and handed him some pegs "I think you've been here too long, you're starting to sound Aussie" Archie shrugged "Is that a bad thing" Lexie raised her eyebrows "Spose not. We have been here a while" He nodded and after hanging the last piece of clothing waited for her to wind the line up to flat in the southerly breeze. He took the basket from her and wrapped his arm around her waist. She looked up at him, squinting at the sun "Do you think about Glenbogle much?" she asked "Yeah. But I like it here too. You do too don't you?" He prompted "Yeah, yeah" Lexie reassured quickly "Then why do you ask?" They climbed the stairs back up into the house "Duncan was asking about what a Laird was today..." Archie glanced at he in shock "What did you tell him?" "Just the basics, its just he's been acting weird. I think you're right, something's up" 


	5. Part 5

Family Secrets – Part 5  
  
Duncan sat in front of the computer. So a 'laird' was an owner of a large estate...but that would mean Paul owned a large estate? Which would also mean... his father used too! Duncan couldn't believe it... he thought they just lived in the highlands in a typical cottage. Well now he needed to know where this Glenbogle place was, he had already decided it must be a place, so he bought up the goggle home page. "Right...here goes nothing" Duncan said typing in 'Glenbogle' in the search bar. He took a deep breath and clicked 'Search'. Instantly results came flooding on the page. He looked at the first one.  
  
Home of Glenbogle  
  
The home of the MacDonald family. See information on the visitors centre, live web cams of the home and grounds. More about the wildlife park and the activities... www.glenbogle.com - 17k  
  
Duncan must of read it over and over again. 'Home to the MacDonald family?' His curiosity got the better of him and he clicked on it. His eyes scanned the page as he saw the 'web cam' option. He clicked on it; he suddenly pulled himself closer to the screen in amazement. "That's...the HOUSE?" he spoke to himself getting louder. He couldn't see it that well because as he thought of the time difference it was about 10 at night. He clicked on the web cam pictures. One was of outside... yes still dark so couldn't see anything. Then the second one intrigued him... it was actually inside the house. "Wow" Duncan said sitting back and admiring it. He sat watching it for ages, but there didn't seem to be any movement in the house. After a while he almost gave up, ready to explore the rest of the house. Then suddenly a figure emerged on the screen. "Uncle Paul!" Duncan said excited and sitting right up. He looked right up close to the screen. Yes, Yes it was defiantly him! Duncan enlarged the screen so he could get a clearer view. Just then a little voice piped up behind him "Hey it's uncle Paul!" Shelley's little voice shocked Duncan's ears. He spun round on the chair. "Shelley!" Duncan yelled surprised. "Hey mum, Uncle..." Shelley began to speak but Duncan grabbed her and held his hand over the mouth muffling her voice. She started to struggle but Duncan whispered in her ear "Shh! Shell just shut up for a minute will ya?"  
  
Dutifully she obeyed, and Duncan removed his hand. He reached round her and exited the website. "But Dunc I don't understand..." Shelley said quietly in fear. "Don't worry but just don't say anything to mum or dad, understood?" Duncan said seriously. "Understood" Shelley said copying Duncan's serious face. "Good...right well why did you come in here?" Duncan said relaxing and spinning around on the chair. "We've off to the beach" Shelley said excited "Then we're going to go to the hotel for a bit" Lexie suddenly opened the door, both children tensed up. "Oh good your not killing each other" Lexie laughed, Duncan and Shelley both put on pity laughs. "Shell you called didn't ya?" Lexie said talking to her daughter, who kept looking at Duncan, worried. "Yeah... Erm... I was going to say..." Shelley said looking at Duncan again, he was shaking his head behind their mother and mouthing the words 'Don't say anything'. "Duncan's coming with us" she smiled happily; pleased she had thought of something.  
  
Duncan got up, "Yes, so come on Shell...lets go get ready" he said taking her hand and giving his mother a smile. Lexie looked at the two worried, after they had gone she stood and thought to herself 'What just happened?' then she laughed, "Maybe they are finally getting on!" she spoke to herself as she followed them.  
  
When downstairs, Duncan let go of Shelley's hand, "Well done" he whispered to her. "Thanks Dunc" she smiled, she liked the fact that they had a secret.  
  
"Right Dunc, have you got your swimmers?" Lexie called, picking up her beach stuff. "Yeppo" Duncan replied. "Right then lets be off" Lexie said smiling as she ushered the two children out the door. 


	6. Part 6

Family Secrets part 6

Archie threw out the towel; it billowed once in the slight breeze before settling down in ripples on the sand.

Duncan and Shelley ran into the surf with Lexie yelling at then to stay in between the flags. She then dropped down onto the sand next to Archie.

" I don't know if I'll ever get used to this," She proclaimed

" Hmmm?" Archie replied, eyes closed

Lexie smiled, " I see you have."

He opened his eyes and grinned, " Well we definitely get our daily dose of vitamin D"

Lexie nodded, "That we do"

She rummaged through her bag and finally found the bottle of sunscreen, already caked in sand from the previous days use.

" Eww" she whined, washing it off with the nearby drink bottle.

Archie sat up and took it from her, drying it on the corner of his towel. He waited for her to take off her t-shirt before beginning to rub the cream into her back and shoulders.

" You keeping your eye on them?" He asked

" Of course I am" Lexie retorted, " They're out near the sandbar. Well Duncan is, Shelley's just paddling in the swell"

" Okay"

 " I think one of us needs to talk to Duncan tonight" Lexie announced

" Yeah, I agree. But what are we going to say?"

" I don't know." Lexie sighed, " Do you think he's ready to know yet?"

" I don't know" Now it was Archie's turn to sigh " It all seems so long ago, so far away. Isn't it a bit irrelevant for Duncan? It's so totally different to Australia."

" Yeah" Lexie agreed " But it's his heritage Archie. The kids are only first generation Australian, barely even that in Duncan's case. How long is his Scottish history?"

Archie exhaled heavily

"Come on Arch. You of all people should know that in order to truly know where you're going, you have to first know where you've come from."

Archie didn't respond, instead he re-capped the bottle and tossed it into the bag.

" Why don't we ever bring a ball?" he asked suddenly

" A ball?" Lexie asked mystified

" Yeah, they have a beach volleyball net permanently set up here and we barely ever use it."

" Remind me next time" Lexie replied bemusedly " How long till we have to be at the hotel?"

Archie glanced at his watch " I said after lunch and it's about 11:30 now."

" Okay, that leaves me just enough time to have a decent sun bathe and then a swim to cool off. We'll get lunch at the kiosk."

" Sounds good to me," Archie agreed " but I'm going for that swim now."

He kissed her softly and then ran off to join his son and daughter; Lexie watched him go, before lying back and closing her eyes.

She wondered how much longer this life of sun and surf would last.

When they'd first come to Australia it had seemed like a different world. She was still only just getting used to having Christmas in the summer instead of the winter. The temperature had already reached 40c a few times this week and the humidity was anywhere from 80 to 100%. They were sleeping with the windows open and the fans on, with no sheets or blankets on the bed.

She tried to remember what it had been like in Glenbogle as the tropical sun warmed her body. It would be cold and snowing for Christmas, presents were left under an evergreen and they would be having a traditional roasted dinner with all the trimmings.

Over here they had a pine tree in a bucket of sand, the Christmas decorations showed kangaroos and koalas dressed in Santa suits, there were even a few Australian versions of Christmas carols by people who had, rightly so, got fed up with listening to songs like "White Christmas" and " Winter Wonderland".

She giggled as she remembered the first time she had heard the lyrics

_" Dashing through the bush, in a rusty Holden Ute, Kelpie by my side, esky in the boot"_ instead of the established _"Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh"  _

Still the country had grown on her, it was endearing with it's was laid back and easygoing manner. The people were generally very friendly, and it was multicultural so they fitted in fine.

The time difference between here and Scotland was a bit of a pain, as they were ten hours ahead of Glenbogle in the summer when they had daylight savings, and nine hours ahead when they didn't. Which meant that she hadn't talked properly with a lot of her friends back home for quite a while.

She sighed; she was starting to doze off, which was not a good idea unless she wanted to end up bright red and peeling. Glancing at her watch she realised she had already been lying there for half an hour and it was already 12 noon.

It was time for a swim to cool off before a quick lunch and then on to the hotel. She stripped off her skirt and scanned the waves looking for the rest of her family. She found them not too far out and to the right; Shelley was standing in the wash searching for pippy's while Archie and Duncan were diving under the waves before they crashed onto the shore.

Lexie let the water lap at her feet, gasping at how cold it was on her now sun warmed body. Archie saw her and smiled, swimming over to splash her

" Don't you da-" she gasped as she got a mouthful of salt water. His grinning face looked back at her as she blinked the water from her eyes.

Laughing he wrapped his arms around her middle and lifted her over the incoming wave, she smiled at the feeling of rising and falling with the ocean. They were so isolated here; it was the only continent whose entire border consisted of a body of water- there was nowhere else like it. 

Archie kissed her and she tasted the salt on his lips, she grinned briefly while he pulled back to gaze at her in her bikini, before reaching out and dunking him under in pay back for the splashing.

Later at the hotel……


	7. Part 7

Family Secrets – Part 7  
  
Shelley ran ahead as she got to the hotel doors she put all her weight on them and pushed them open. Then held it open for Archie and Lexie following behind her. She gave them an angelic smile as they passed her, and then ran off ahead of them again, leaving the door to swing in Duncan's face, he reacted fast to push his hand in front before it hit his face.  
  
Once inside they adjusted to the cool air the overhead fans made while they whirled round. Shelley ran up to reception "Hey Scott" she yelled as she leaned against the counter. "G'day mate" Scott replied scuffling Shelley's hair, she replied with a cheesy smile back. Archie walked up behind her. "Not annoying Scott are ya Shell" Archie laughed, tickling Shelley. "Noooo..." Shelley yelled wiggling away.  
  
Duncan walked behind them all, dragging his feet and head down. "Cheer up mate" Lexie said playfully punching Duncan in the arm. "Mum!" Duncan said shamefully back to her, giving her a disgusted look as he moved away. "Oh Sorry" Lexie said laughing.  
  
Lexie and Duncan joined Archie and Shelley at the reception counter as Shelley was still talking to Scott. "Scott... do you want to hear the song I learnt at school?" Shelley asked smiling. "Go on then" Scott said laughing.  
  
"Ok well it starts like this..." Shelley said preparing herself for the song.  
  
"I came from the dream time, from the dusty red soil plains,  
  
I am the ancient heart - the keeper of the flame,  
  
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come,  
  
For forty thousand years I'd been the first Australian. We are one but we are many  
  
And from all the lands on earth we come,  
  
we share a dream,  
  
And sing with one voice," Shelley paused to see if Scott recognised it. "I am, you are, we are Australian." Scott sang joining in with her, as she laughed. "That's the 100th time we've heard that" Archie laughed. "It's not finished yet!" Shelley said interrupting Archie. "Ok Sorry!" Archie whispered laughing.  
  
"I came upon the prison ship bound down by iron chains  
  
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.  
  
I'm a settler, I'm a farmer's wife on a dry and barren run  
  
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.  
  
I'm the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode  
  
The girl became a woman on the long and dusty road  
  
I'm a child of the depression, I saw the good times come" Shelley sang again by herself. "I am, you are, we are Australian." They all sang together except for Duncan.  
  
"Duncan why wont you sing with us?" Shelley asked confused. "Because what's the point, I don't even know why mum and dad are singing it, it's not like they are Australian" Duncan snapped back at her. "Well you are" Shelley said even more confused at this point. Lexie looked across at Archie worried, he could read her signs and knew this couldn't be good, but before they could do anything about it Duncan shouted back. "No I'm not Shell! I was born in Scotland! I'm not bloody Australian!"  
  
A few people in the hotel turned around, shocked by the sudden rise in voices, then there was silence and you could only hear the sound of the fans moving round above their heads. Archie took Duncan by the arm, and lead him quickly outside. Duncan could hear Shelley whispering as he left. "Mummy is Duncan telling the truth?" she asked confused. "Yes honey" Lexie replied, her eyes not looking at her daughter but outside to where she could see Archie shouting at Duncan, although she could not hear him through the glass, it didn't look good. Clearly Archie had been embarrassed by his son's outburst in their own hotel. There was silence for a while inside the hotel, as people started to return to what they were doing. "I was born here though weren't I?" Shelley asked again after a while. Lexie's attention then went back to her daughter. "Sorry honey what did you say?" Lexie said shaking her head. "Was I born here?" Shelley asked again, looking rather worried this time.  
  
Archie then opened the door. "We're leaving" he called to Lexie. "But Arch I thought we were gonna..." Lexie said confused. "Now" he said again shutting the door. Lexie sensed the anger in Archie's voice. "Come on pet, let's go" Lexie said to Shelley. "Okay" Shelley said disappointed sliding down from the stool she was sitting on and taking Lexie's hand. "Bye Scott!" she turned round waving to him. "See ya Kiddo!" he called back, waving to her. 


	8. Part 8

Family Secrets - Part 8

When they got home Archie was still fuming, Duncan ran to his room and Shelley went to her visit her friend down the road. Archie dropped down into the lounge and stared straight ahead, Lexie sat softly on his knee and tried to read his thoughts.

Suddenly he spoke " You know I thought this was going to work out Lex. Moving to Australia, raising the kids here away from Glenbogle."

" It has" Lexie reassured him, rubbing her hand up and down his back

" I believed that, until this afternoon." Archie declared

" Archie, he's a teenager, he's just trying to find his place in the world. It was only one silly episode, I'm sure it'll pass."

" Hmm" Archie deliberated " I hope so. Why did he have to do it at the hotel?"

Lexie shrugged " Attention? I think he just got fed up Arch. He's been out of sorts lately, maybe we should just give him some space for a bit- not be too hard on him."

" I felt like throttling him" Archie replied, a slight chuckle in his voice

" I could tell" Lexie smiled

Archie looked at her sheepishly

 " We'll talk about it more after tea." She declared, " Let's go for a walk to clear our heads"

 Archie nodded and took her hand " We can grab a video and watch it later as well"

Lexie grinned, glad that her husband was starting to calm down " Okay"

" Let me just grab my top out of the beach bag, I don't need to get more burnt today."

Archie smiled and gazed at her still in her bikini top, with a pastel blue skirt.

" I like that look, I always have."

" You just like it because I can show more skin and still be considered decent," She teased

" Exactly" He agreed grabbing her around the waist and dragging her out the door without the shirt.

Duncan waited for his parents to leave before coming back down the stairs. He had a bag packed and grabbed some money from the spare change bowl on the bench, quickly scribbling a note and leaving it on top.

Carefully he snuck out the back door and walked down the hill towards the bus stop. When the bus came he paid the driver and sat down at the back.

He got out his mobile and wrote a message to his friend Rob, that consisted of- ' Hey mate- u home?'   

Five minutes later a reply came of 'Yeah, wanna com ova?'

Duncan smiled, brilliant – 'I'm on my way. Meet u Pommy Hill 1:45'

He had just finished typing his reply as the bus pulled up to the station. He hopped of, thanking the driver, and waited for the 140 to Raymond Terrace,

40 minutes later he stood on the path leading to Pommy Hill with Rob.

" What's up?" Rob asked as the walked back to his place

" Not much" Duncan replied, " I just had to get out of the house you know"

" Yeah tell me about it" Rob agreed as they rounded the corner.

The dog in the yard they walked past started barking and Rob yelled out " Ah shut up" before continuing " So you staying for a bit or what?"

" Yeah if that's okay"

" Fine by me. Got nothing better to do"

They walked up the street and stopped outside Rob's house as he pulled out his keys and opened the door.

" Do ya parents know you're here?" He asked, leaving the leaving the door open but shutting the screen to let in the breeze and keep out the flies

" Um, not really. I left them a note." Duncan answered

" You can ring them later. Mum'll probably make you."

" Yeah I spose" Duncan groaned, dumping his bag in the hall

 " Carn" Rob declared, " Let's go down the park and play some cricket with the boys"

Duncan smiled " Yeah, that'd be beaut"


	9. Part 9

Family secrets – Part 9  
  
"Arch we better go collect Shell now" Lexie said as they came back from their walk. Archie smiled "Yeah ok" he laughed. "Arch do you reckon Duncan's ok at home?" Lexie said worried. Archie smiled, "I bet he's still sulking, other than that he will be fine, I've told him he isn't allowed on the computer for a week" "Oh Arch don't you think your being a bit hard on him?" Lexie said arguing.  
  
"Lex, he did something bad and wrong, he should be punished for it" Archie said arguing his point back. "Ok then... well I just worry" Lexie said turning away. "Come on lets get Shell" Archie said avoiding the conversation.  
  
Lexie knocked on the door of Shelley's friend Tilly. Two happy faces appeared at the door. "We've been cooking" Shelley said smiling with flour over her face. "I can see that" Lexie laughed. Tilly's mum appeared at the door behind the two girls. "I hope she's been good," Lexie said thanking her. "As always" the woman smiled back at Lexie. "Thanks, right now pet we have to go home" Lexie said talking to Shelley. "Can I take my cakes home please?" Shelley asked Tilly's mum "Sure kiddo, there out the back" Tilly's mum pointed back. Shelley disappeared and returned holding a bag of cakes. "Ok ready" she said walking out the door. "What do you say?" Lexie prompted "Thank you for having me" Shelley said back laughing.  
  
"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I made!" Shelley shouted running up to Archie who was standing by the road. "Oh wow, cakes...Hope there better than your mums!" he joked taking her hand. Lexie gave him a cheeky grin as to say watch it then took Shelley's over hand as they walked home.  
  
"DUNCAN!" Shelley shouted running in the house, and through to the kitchen. The gust of wind she bought behind her, made papers fly in on the kitchen side, including Duncan's note to say where he had gone. "Mummy I'm going to give Duncan a cake," Shelley said still searching for him. "Ok honey" Lexie said coming into the kitchen and noticing the papers. "Maybe he's upstairs..." Shelley said puzzled and walking past Lexie again. "Ok, I think daddy's gone up there too" Lexie said bending down to pick the papers up. She started collecting a few of them up when the phone started ringing. Lexie continued to pick up the papers, but the phone kept ringing. "I guess I'll get that" She called upstairs; she left the papers and went to go to the phone.  
  
Same time back at Robs...  
  
"Told you my mum would make you ring" Rob said waiting by the phone where Duncan was calling home. "Ah well they should of got my note" Duncan said while listening to the ringing on the other end. "No ones picking up" Duncan said putting the phone down. "Oh on lets go have dinner" Rob said leading Duncan away.  
  
Lexie got to the phone just as it stopped ringing. Suddenly Shelley came running down the stairs. "Mummy! Mummy! Duncan's gone!" Shelley came running up to Lexie nearly knocking her over. "What?" Lexie said shocked and totally forgetting about picking up the pile of paper, including Duncan's note. Archie came bounding down the stairs and called through to Lexie "He's gone" he said seriously. "What? He can't? Oh Arch where's he gone?" Lexie panicked, walking up to Archie. "Look you take Shelley and go search by the beach, I'll go down to the park" Archie said making orders. "Come on Shell" Lexie said grabbing her daughter's hand and yanking her out the door. Archie charged out the door behind them.  
  
Lexie scanned her eyes across the beach, walking quickly pulling Shelley behind her. "I can't see him! I can't see him!" she kept saying to herself.  
  
"Mummy...so has Duncan run away?" Shelley asked worried herself now. "Well we don't know where he is, you could call that running away!" Lexie kind of shouted at Shelley. Shelley didn't say anything but she decided it might be the best thing to do, she could see her mother was getting hysterical. Suddenly Lexie's mobile went of, she saw it was Archie calling. "Arch?" Lexie said in hope. "Nothing" Archie said back disappointed. "Nor here, meet you back at the house" Lexie said almost in tears now with worry.  
  
Back at the house, Lexie paced up and down waiting for Archie to return. Shelley sat twiddling her thumbs on the sofa watching Lexie walk up and down. Archie came in the door. "Arch where have you been?" Lexie shouted "I went to look around a bit more!" Archie retaliated "Look Arch I told you, you shouldn't be so hard on him!" "Lex he did something wrong he had to be punished!" "Well he's run away now hasn't he?! Is that what you wanted?" "Oh course its not what I wanted!" "Look Arch I know what its like to run away! I'm just lucky I found Glenbogle!" "Glenbogle?" Shelley suddenly piped up. Archie and Lexie turned to see their daughter on the sofa; she acted like the light bulb had just been switched on over her head. "I know where Duncan is!" Shelley suddenly said running upstairs. Archie and Lexie looked at each other confused but followed her all the same. She was sitting down at the computer and typing something in. Archie and Lexie stood behind her confused, then Archie moved closer as he saw her type in the address bar: his eyes turned to Lexie "How did you know that Shell?" Archie asked worried. "Duncan had it on...he made me promise me not to tell...but I think he went there" Shelley said worried, and scared that she had let one of Duncan's secrets out.  
  
Lexie looked at Archie, she knew Duncan couldn't of gone there, but all the same it did help with the situation, at least now they knew why he had been acting weird lately. "Lex I think we better keep looking" Archie said walking out of the room. 


	10. Part 10

Family Secrets- Part 10  
  
Lexie sighed and noticed Shelley still sitting at the computer, she looked near tears. "Come on honey, how would you like to go visit Tilly again for a bit while we look for Duncan?" "Okay" Shelley whimpered, taking Lexie's outstretched hand "You go and pack some stuff for over night and I'll ring Tilly's mother." Shelley nodded and ran to her room. She was extremely worried that Duncan might have done something stupid and she didn't want to hold up the search anymore then she already had by promising not to tell about Glenbogle. Ten minutes later Shelley was back at her friend's house and Lexie and Archie were in the car cruising around the nearby neighborhoods. Lexie was trying to hold the tears back; Archie glanced at her and reached over to place his hand on her leg. "It's going to be okay Honey. We'll find him" Lexie shook her head "What if we don't? Oh Arch I don't think I could stand it" "Shh, Shh" He soothed "Come on we've got to think positive" Lexie nodded and looked out the window. "Should we go the police?" Archie shook his head "I don't think they can do anything until it's been 24 hours" He replied Lexie nodded, taking a deep breath "What do we do?" "Here" Archie replied, handing her his mobile "Ring the hotel and tell them to keep an eye out he could go there" "Okay"  
  
Finally at 2am they stumbled back into the house without success, and collapsed on the lounge "Arch" Lexie commented, "You don't really think he could be trying to get to Glenbogle do you?" "He wouldn't have enough money, you know how much it costs to get a ticket to Scotland" Lexie nodded "Guess so. How did he even find out about it though?" Archie thought about this for a minute before remembering that he'd caught Duncan acting weird in the computer room before "The e-mail" He declared suddenly "It had to be the e-mail I got from Paul" Suddenly Lexie couldn't help it anymore, tears rolled down her cheeks "Oh Archie" "Shh" he whispered, "Come here" He pulled her into his arms and stroked her hair "14 years together Lex, we've got through 14 years, we can get through this" Lexie's head bobbed up and down in timid agreement 'why had they yelled at him, why did he run away. She didn't think she'd survive if anything happened to him' Archie continued to stroke his wife's hair as he tried to block out his feelings of fear and concentrate on where else his son could have possibly gone.  
  
At 10am the next morning the front door opened and Duncan walked in. he had no idea of all the chaos he had created. He walked into he lounge room and stopped, his parents were on the lounge. His mother was asleep in his father lap but Archie was wide-awake. "Where have you been?" He asked, his voice dangerously low "Do you have any idea what your mother and I have gone through?" 


	11. Part 11

Family Secrets – Part 11 

****

"What?" Duncan stood there confused. Lexie suddenly awoke from the noise, she opened her eyes slowly adjusting to the surroundings, "Oh Duncan, ma wee boy your ok!" she shouted jumping up and hugging him tight. Duncan didn't react he just stood there confused. "Oh where have you been?" Lexie said holding him still.

"I went to Rob's" Duncan said simply.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Archie said in rage, getting up and moving towards Duncan. How could he be so calm about this situation? "Arch, no don't!" Lexie screamed holding Duncan back and tight, she had tears in her eyes. Duncan still didn't have a clue what was going on, he knew his father was mad and his mother was upset, but why? All he had done was go to his mates because he needed to get out the house.

Duncan struggled out of his mothers grip, and stormed out of the room. "Come back here!" Archie shouted. "Look we know you know about Glenbogle!" Archie shouted again, slowly Duncan reappeared. "You know?" he said surprised.

"Shell told us…" Archie said forgetting that he shouldn't of bought Shelley into this one.

"I don't believe her… I told her not to say anything!" Duncan said taking a deep breath and looking around in rage. "She thought you had run away there" Lexie said laughing a bit before seeing Archie still mad, and she shut up. "Believe me I would if I could!" Duncan shouted out. He looked at his mother, her reaction made him feel bad, her usual cheery expression had been lost, she looked upset and hurt. Then he looked at his father, he was angry yet behind it he could see he was also hurt. "Sorry…" Duncan quickly said, not sure what to do next.

No one said anything for a long time. They just stood there, Lexie sat down on the sofa, she looked close to tears, Archie saw his wife yet did not move to comfort her, but continued to stare at his son. "Mum…mum I'm real sorry" Duncan said hugging her, and feeling close to tears himself. He hated to hurt his mother, it was one of the worst things he could do. Archie sat down on the other side of Lexie. He had varies of thoughts going through his head, he hated the fact he sounded so much like his father, and if his mother could see him now she would be disappointed in him, which hurt him even more. "I think we need to talk" Archie said after a while. Lexie looked up at him and nodded, then they both turned to Duncan.

Duncan glanced from his mother to his father and swallowed. He realised something big was a foot, and he might actually learn something about Glenbogle and his parents past.

Archie sighed, " Glenbogle is where I was born. You've obviously seen it on the computer and know that it's not your ordinary house"

" It's a castle dad"

Archie raised his eyebrows " Yes, yes it is. I grew up there, and then I went to London for quite a few years. When I came back your mother was working there and that's how I met her."

" Mum worked for you?" Duncan asked confused

" I was the housekeeper and cook. I ran away from home when I was a teenager- that's why I was so worried about you"

Duncan grimaced, that made things even worse. "I'm sorry mum"

Lexie nodded and hugged him tightly " Next time tell us, or leave a note"

Duncan looked confused " I did"

" What?" Archie asked, glancing at his wife

" I left a note on top of the spare change bowl"

Lexie groaned, " It must have blown off"

" So what's a Laird? And why did you move to Australia? Why aren't we still at Glenbogle? Why don't I know anything about your past?" Duncan had so many questions to ask his parents, he started firing them at Archie and Lexie.

"We moved to Australia because we thought it would be a lovely place to live, and it is." Archie answered lying partly. Lexie could tell he was not going to tell Duncan the whole truth about this.

"That's it?" Duncan said sarcastically.

"Erm yep" Archie said nodding.

"Oh" Duncan said a bit disappointed, although he could see the look on his mothers face, the way she was looking at his father. He knew something wasn't right he just didn't know what yet.


	12. Part 12

Family Secrets – Part 12 

****

The next day…

"Hello my little princess" Archie said coming into Shelley's room. "What you doing?" he asked sitting down beside her. She was holding a baby doll in her arms and had been speaking to it. "I'm playing dollies" She replied showing Archie the doll she held in her arms. "Do you want to hold him? He's called Jamie" Shelley said shoving the doll into Archie's arms. Duncan walked past the door and noticed the two on the floor. He stopped by the door and observed the on goings in the room. Archie tensed up at the mention of the name 'Jamie', yet he played along with his daughter taking the baby from her and acting like he was holding it. Duncan made a confused face as he could see his father was having troubles, Duncan knew his father was excellent at playing games, yet this one he seemed to be struggling with.

"Daddy…" Shelley asked looking up. Archie could tell a question was about to come as always. "What princess?" he asked waiting for the question.

"Is mummy going to have another baby?" she asked eyes longing. Archie gave a little laugh at the idea "No I should think so now, but uncle Duncan and auntie Jess are having a baby"

"Oh…do you think that if I asked them nicely they would call the baby Jamie? Because I really like that name" Shelley said taking the baby doll back off Archie. Archie stayed silent, Duncan watched his father…what was up with him? Why did the mention of babies make him act funny? Duncan suddenly had a thought… 'Was there something they weren't telling them?' … "Dad?" Shelley said after a while.

"Oh sorry Shell… no I think they have a name in mind already" Archie replied quickly.

"ARCHIE!" Lexie suddenly cried.

"Lex?" Archie quickly got up, as Duncan dashed out the way. "What's wrong?" Archie shouted as he entered the computer room. "Nothing's wrong Arch! It's Jess…she's had the baby!" Lexie filled with joy as she clicked on the e-mail to show Archie the news.

Archie, Lexie, Duncan and Shelley,

Just would like to share the great news with you that Jess gave birth to a healthy baby boy weighing 8.5 pounds earlier tonight! Everyone is ok and very excited, Duncan especially. Anyways it's been a long night so everyone's off to bed now. Hope you are all well, speak soon

Paul x

"That's great news" Archie smiled happily. Shelley and Duncan ran in the computer room behind Archie. "What's the matter?" Duncan said out of breath, pretending he had been downstairs. "Jess has had her baby" Lexie smiled. Shelley gave a big smile,

"We were just talking about babies weren't we daddy?"

"Yep, see it's your good luck" Archie said taking Shelley by the shoulders in front of him.

"I still wish they could call him Jamie" Shelley said giggling. Lexie looked up at Archie and looked concerned. Again Duncan noticed this familiar expression on both his parents' faces at the mention of now it seemed to be the name 'Jamie'. Duncan now seemed to believe there might be something they weren't telling them… did they have another child? Was his name Jamie? What happened to him?

Duncan knew that his parents had belongings stored up in the attic. When he was younger he had often seen his mother go up there, sometimes she would go up there when she was sad, but Duncan never understood until now, that maybe that had a connection with his past. He decided that he would go up there, but not now, or when his parents were in the house, also seeing as he was still grounded he would have to find something to do in the house.

The next day…

"Dunc? Duncan?" Lexie said softly waking her son. Duncan rubbed his eyes as he woke, "Mum?" he said quietly.

"We're going out for a bit ok, just thought I would tell you, now remember you have to stay in the house, we are trusting you to leave you by yourself ok?" she said sitting on his bed as she spoke to him. "Yeah ok then…I'll properly just sleep" Duncan secretly lied, seeking his opportunity. "Ok then, see you later" Lexie said kissing Duncan on the head and leaving him be.

Duncan waited a few minutes to check that his parents had left the house. He slipped on his slippers and walked out of his room. He starred up at the ceiling where the entrance to the attic was. He thought for a couple of minutes before going out back for the ladder. Carefully he lied it up and started to take the climb up the ladder. Struggling a bit with the hatch, eventually he got it open. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he fumbled around for the light switch. The room filled with light as he found it. Duncan looked around the unfamiliar room, he realised he had never really been up here before. There were boxes everywhere. He took the box nearest him and started to pull things out. He was a bit disappointed at the fact there weren't many interesting things in the contents of the box, just a few old things from Glenbogle but none that related to any important family past. He searched through a few boxes, then nearly giving up he noticed a few boxes stashed away towards the back of the room. His curiosity made him more nearer, pulling the boxes out of the corner, his face lit up with joy as he realised he had found a box of photo albums. "Ah ha" he said happily to himself. As he opened the first one, he noticed immediately that it was pictures of his father as a child, it was obvious, and he laughed at the fact that he looked so much like his father. Then as he turned the page he recognised his grandmother and saw a picture of his grandfather, who he never knew.

As he reached for another photo album a picture slipped out on to his lap, it was of his father and another boy slightly older than him. Duncan didn't give it another look; he thought it must be Paul, as he did not know anything about the fact that Paul was only Archie's half brother. So placing it backs on the pile, he didn't give it another thought. As he searched through more photo albums of his father as a boy, he noticed his auntie Lizzie was in some of them, he didn't even think about the fact that after a while, Archie and Lizzie were the only ones who appeared in pictures. Then he reached the more recent ones of his father and mother. He looked at the pictures carefully, his mother hadn't changed, even know she still looked young, although she was in her 40's, you could still think she was in her early 30's. Suddenly he jumped up "Yes!" he cheered suddenly changing the page, as a picture of his father holding a child appeared. "Oh" suddenly his smile dropped as he noticed underneath it had written 'Archie and Martha' it was his older cousin Martha. Duncan sighed in a disappointed find of nothing. Then as he got up his attention was drawn to another box… 


	13. Part 13

Family Secrets – Part 13 

****

Duncan pulled the baby photo out of the box and gazed at it. It wasn't him and it wasn't Shell. He didn't think it was Martha…he glanced at the back- Jamie! He knew it!

He searched for a date, but it had none. It was just a baby photo of a boy in a christening like gown. Duncan wondered what had happened to him? Why had he never been mentioned?

Carefully he climbed out of the attic and shut the door, placing the photo in his pocket. He put it on his bedside drawer and tied to go back to sleep. He would have to tell Shelley something in order for her to stop going on about that name, he could see that it clearly upset his parents.

All this time he had thought that he was the eldest child, the only boy- now everything was changing.

Duncan wondered what it would have been like to have an older brother, another sibling. Maybe that was why his parents had moved to Australia, never mentioned Glenbogle to him…

They probably had just wanted to forget, to move on with their lives, have other children. He pulled the other photo, which was of his mother and father when they were younger, properly when they were still at Glenbogle, which he had subconsciously grabbed out of his pocket and placed it next to the photo of Jamie. 

They looked so young, and so happy. His mother must have still been in her twenties, and his father a bit older. It was weird to think that she had worked for him; he would have been her boss, how had they fallen in love?

Maybe he should write his Uncle Paul an email when his parents weren't watching. He'd be able to tell him all the family history; he would have grown up at Glenbogle with his father. He would have known his mother when she had worked for them.

'Yes' Duncan decided 'He'd do that later'

"Duncan?" Shelley asked wearily, she rubbed her eyes and in the dark room with the curtains still drawn she looked at him in the half-light of his lamp  " I had a bad dream and Mummy and Daddy aren't in their room"

" Yeah, they've gone out together for a bit" Duncan answered

" Can I hop in with you for a bit?" Duncan nodded half-heartedly

" Who's that?" Shelley asked, spying the photographs as she climbed in next to him

 " No one" Duncan covered, but she grabbed the photos before he could stop her

" Is that Mummy and Daddy?"

" Yes" Duncan answered

" Who's the baby?" She asked, curious "Is that you?"

" No. Listen Shell if I tell you this you have to promise to behave okay?"

" Okay" Shelley repeated

" I think that's Jamie, our elder brother"

" We don't have an elder brother" Shelley commented

" I think he may have died before we knew him and that's why we moved to Australia"

" Oh" Shelley answered softly

" I want you to stop using that name from now on okay, it upsets Mum and Dad"

Shelley nodded sadly " I'm sorry"

" We have to work all the secrets out Shell. Will you help me?"

Duncan's eyes searched hers

" Yes"


	14. Part 14

Family secrets – Part 14 

****

Suddenly the door slammed downstairs and Lexie called up the stairs "Hello". Duncan quickly turned to Shelley and took the pictures and hid them under his pillow. "Quick Shell, pretend your asleep" Duncan said ducking his head down on the pillow. Shelley copying her brother's orders quickly did the same. "Duncan why are we being asleep?" she whispered. "Shh…because then they wont ask any questions," Duncan said shutting his eyes.

"Dunc? Have you seen Shell…Aww Archie come look" Lexie called upstairs. Archie appeared next to Lexie peering in Duncan's room. "Peaceful for once" Archie joked.

"Arch" Lexie turned to Archie, "Are we going to tell the kids about Jamie?" she asked holding her arms around his waist. Archie looked over to his two peaceful 'Sleeping' children and thought for a minute. "I don't know Lex," he said truthfully. Duncan peered one eye open to have a look, but quickly shut it again as Archie looked over again. "Lets talk about it downstairs" Archie said taking a double look at Duncan.

After a while, Shelley whispered "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Oh yeah sorry you can" Duncan said forgetting his sister was there. Shelley sat up and went to reach under the pillow. "What are you doing?" Duncan spoke up.

"Well I was going to look at the picture…" Shelley said reaching for it again.

"No Shell…that's it, no more looking at the picture ok…we need to find out the secret about all this, but mum and dad must not know we have the picture ok" Duncan said looking to his sister until she nodded silently.

Carefully she got out of Duncan's bed and walked out the door. When she had gone, Duncan carefully reached for the pictures just to have one more mental image of them before placing them back. He thought to himself for a few minutes, his father didn't seem to keen on telling them about Jamie, yet he wondered why his mother had to ask, surely she would have a right to tell them too?  

He then remembered he was going to e-mail his uncle Paul. Creeping out the door, he observed the surroundings, Yep just as he thought, all downstairs. So he took the run to the computer room. He decided he didn't want to let on too much about the situation that his parents hadn't actually told them about Jamie. He would simply ask him what life was like there while his parents were there… then causally linking it in.

Hey Uncle Paul!

Hope you are ok and Aunt Isobel and the kids. I was just wondering if you could help me a bit with a family history report I have to write about our family. Since I don't know what it was like at Glenbogle could you please tell me what it was like when my parents were still there and before I was born.

E-mail back please

Duncan

Duncan read the e-mail over; it seemed a bit plain yet not too suspicious. So clicking on send he sat back pleased with himself. Now all he had to do was wait for the reply.  


	15. Part 15

**Family Secrets – Part 15**   
  
" Archie?" Lexie whispered   
" Yep"   
" Why didn't we tell them about Glenbogle earlier?"   
Archie looked at his wife seated next to him on the verandah   
" Because we wanted to make a clean start, and make it easier for Paul. I mean Duncan is the rightful heir, I didn't want him to be compartmentalized by that from word go"   
" Yeah, but he barely knows anything about it, about our past, about his family, Scotland…."   
" We're not in Scotland Lex, we're in Australia." Archie commented, sipping his drink   
" Yeah I noticed" Lexie replied sarcastically   
Suddenly Shelley opened the screen door and ran out "Mummy, Daddy can we have Macca's for lunch?"   
Lexie groaned "Oh okay. You better go and get dressed first, and tell you're brother."   
" Okay" Shell replied enthusiastically as she ran back upstairs taking the steps two at a time.   
Lexie laughed, "That reminds me of the steps at Glenbogle. Do you remember?"   
" I remember how tired you got by the time you finally reached the top" Archie laughed " Living in a castle does have its disadvantages."   
" True" Lexie agreed " I remember sprinting down the stairs when you got back from Nepal and literally throwing myself into your arms"   
Archie grinned " Oh yes, I remember that too, you nearly bowled me over."   
" Do you think Duncan is just going to leave it as it is with the information we've given him, or do you suppose he will keep looking deeper until he works it all out?" Lexie asked   
" I'm not sure. But if he's anything like us he doesn't give up easily."   
Lexie nodded, " Come on" she ordered, placing the drink on the table and grabbing his hand " Time to go to Macdonald's"   
They looked at each other and laughed, it had never really occurred to them how ironic that was.   
  
Ten minutes later they all sat in a booth at the fast food restaurant with their various meals   
Shelley was playing contently with the doll from her Happy Meal, while Duncan was proving his mother wrong by eating an entire Big Mac, as Lexie just shook her head and laughed.   
" What would you like to do today?" Archie asked   
Duncan thought about his e-mail to Paul. It was 12:00 noon here therefore it was 2am the day before in Scotland. Paul wouldn't be up for quite a while, so he had plenty of time.   
" I did have one idea…" Lexie ventured   
" What?" the kids asked expectantly   
" Well, I was thinking we could put the Christmas decorations up and get a tree."   
" Yay!" Shelley yelled, " Lets do it now!"   
" Hang on" Archie ordered, " You haven't finished your lunch yet"   
Both children scoffed down their meals and ran for the car. It wasn't until they reached home that Duncan realised they might have a problem…   
The Christmas decorations were stored in the attic, but it was only his parents that got them down each year. What if one of them noticed that the boxes had been moved around, or that the photos were missing?   
He found himself holding his breath as the bags of decorations were lugged down the ladder, but not a word was mentioned. Finally he felt safe as they closed the hatch and went downstairs to the lounge room.   
  
" Duncan do you want to go with me to get the tree, while Shelley stays here to help your mother put up decorations?" Archie inquired   
" Yeah sure" he answered following his father out the door and back into the car   
Meanwhile Shelley was pulling things out of the bags they had brought down like there was no tomorrow.   
" Shell, Shell, we don't need all of that just yet. We have to wait for the tree before we use a lot of those decorations. Can you find the nativity scene for me please?" Lexie requested   
" Yep" Shelley replied ardently   
Half an hour later Archie and Duncan returned with a large pine tree in tow   
" Are you sure it'll fit?" Lexie asked skeptically   
" Sure it will" Archie answered, Lexie raised her eyebrows and went to get a bucket of sand to place it in.   
Sure enough the tree didn't fit " We'll have to cut it down a bit" Archie commented " Dunc can you get the saw please?"   
Duncan nodded and went out to the garage to find the hack saw to cut though the tree. When he returned his mother was in peels of laughter as she watched Archie try to keep the tree up right in the sand   
" Don't help or anything!" He yelled at her   
" Looks like you're doing just fine by yourself" She laughed   
" Here's the saw dad" Duncan remarked, handing it to his father   
" Thank you Duncan" Archie answered with a dirty look towards to wife, which just made her laugh even harder   
  
By that night the family had a Christmas tree, complete with decorations. Lexie and Shelley were still balancing precariously on the ladder trying to hang tinsel from the corners of the roof. Duncan glanced at his watch 8pm…that would make it 10am in Scotland, Paul may have replied by now. Carefully he backed out of the room and ran back upstairs to check the computer….


	16. Part 16

**Family Secrets – Part 16** Duncan sat down at the computer, he felt nervous even though he didn't know why. All it was, was an e-mail from his uncle. Yet this could be it, the secret hisParents weren't telling him. The truth, that was untold and not likely to beTold within this household. Duncan smiled as he saw an e-mail from Paul come up on the screen. With his hand shaking over the mouse, he clicked on it and read on. Hello Duncan, Thanks for asking; we are all fine here in bonny Scotland! I'm glad to help you with your history report, although I don't know if I will be much help, I only came into your families life in the past 16 or so years ago, but anyway I'll try! Well when I came to Glenbogle, your father was the Laird of Glenbogle, your grandfather had recently pasted away, and your mother and father had since been married. I didn't stay this time at Glenbogle, but went back to the army for a while before returning back to Glenbogle. This time I stayed and your father and I worked together on the estate along with your mother. Then your auntie Lizzie came to stay at Glenbogle, and her and your father went to Nepal for 6 or so months climbing a mountain that your grandfather had once climbed back in his army days. While he was away your mother and I worked together looking after Glenbogle. Then when your father came back, he had decided that it was time him and your mother made a new start somewhere else. So he handed the lairdship to me, and him and your mother were getting prepared to move. Then you came along and changed your mothers and fathers plans. So with your mother's wishes, you were born here at Glenbogle in Scotland. Shortly after, your father looked into hotels and restaurants over in other countries and together your father and mother decided they would go to live in Australia, so off you all went. Meanwhile I had met my wife, your auntie Isobel and we married and had kids of our own. Then it leads us to where we are now. Anyway I hope that helps with your history report, you would be better off to ask your father about further history, he would be able to fill you in better, or even you could try e-mailing auntie Lizzie, although I'm not sure you would get an instant reply, who knows what part of the world she and Martha are in at the moment! Uncle Paul x Duncan finished the e-mail looking very confused. That wasn't how it went, was it? What was all this about Paul not being there? He hadn't even mentioned Jamie, maybe he thought he better not seeing as you don't normally talk about the dead? So it was still a mystery, but at least Duncan knew that he was defiantly born at Glenbogle, Scotland. He was happy about that, he loved Australia all the same, yet it made him happier to think he had been born in his homeland, as he liked to think of Glenbogle. Duncan looked across at the hallway; he could see his mother and Shelley going into Shelley's bedroom. He watched as his mother kissed Shelley goodnight, and closed the door. 'Yes, this would be the perfect opportunity to ask his Mother about Jamie.' "Mum" Duncan called quietly. "What ya want pet?" Lexie called back, picking up dirty laundry in the hallway. "Can I ask you something?" Duncan asked questioningly."Yeah sure what is it?" Lexie said coming over to the room."You know Jamie" Duncan said waiting for the response."Jamie…Yeah…didn't know you knew about him" Lexie said a bit shocked, but thought no more about it. "Do you get upset about it?" Duncan asked carefully, not wanting to upset his mother. "Your father does more, I get more upset when your father feels guilty for what happened" Lexie said softly. Duncan looked at her puzzled, but knew that was enough questions. "Oh ok…Well night mum" Duncan said getting up from the computer and walking past Lexie kissing her goodnight, just as a comfort. "Night ma wee man" Lexie said smiling back at him as she carried on downstairs. She got downstairs and started putting the washing on. Archie was sitting in the kitchen reading a couple of leaflets. "Arch" Lexie, said looking up from the floor."Hmm…" Archie said still reading but listening at the same time."Duncan just asked about Jamie" Lexie said multi-tasking."Did he" Archie, said not looking up. "Wait, what?" he exclaimed suddenly realising."Yeah… he asked if we got upset about it" Lexie said shutting the door of the washing machine and sitting opposite Archie. "Hmm…weird" Archie said looking up, and putting the leaflets down on the table in front of Lexie. Lexie's attention turned to the leaflets. "We're going on holiday?" Lexie joked, as they hadn't been out of Australia for 13years."Yes actually, I was thinking about it" Archie said smiling."What?" Lexie burst out laughing."Well I was thinking…now the kids know about Glenbogle…it couldn't hurt for them to see it" Archie said smiling, waiting for his wife's reaction."You mean go back home for a bit?" Lexie said excited."Ok calm down, I don't know yet, its a lot of money but I was looking at a few leaflets and we could get the plane from Sydney on the 29th December at 3:45pm and we would arrive at Heathrow airport in London at 5:55am the next day British time, it says here. Then we would get another plane at 9:40am, which would take us to Inverness airport to arrive at 11:35am, then we could get picked up there" Archie said reading out the leaflet to Lexie. As he looked up he could see her bright blue eyes light up. "Oh Archie it sounds wonderful…but how much will it cost?" she said worried. "Well…" Archie began calculating it up. "For the 4 of us, return flights," he said counting numbers in his head. Lexie waited patiently, "$12, 245" Archie said finishing. Lexie's mouth dropped "Archie that's loads, can we afford it?" she asked worried the little dream they had just created would be shattered in minutes. "Lex" Archie laughed. "What?" Lexie said worried."The hotel business is running fine, we haven't had a proper holiday in 14years, we can afford this" he said smiling."Oh Archie!" Lexie jumped up hugging him, and nearly knocking him over."Shh…your wake the kids" Archie said laughing."Are we going to tell them?" Lexie said smiling from ear to ear."Christmas present" Archie simply said."Oh Archie, I love you!" Lexie said kissing him."I should hope you do," he laughed back. 


	17. Part 17

**Family Secrets – Part 17 (OMG)**

****

The clock next to the bed read 7am when Duncan and Shelley ran into their parent's bedroom the week after; Christmas day was dawning to be just as hot as the rest of the holidays.

Lexie and Archie lay in bed sprawled over the mattress with no blankets covering them. The windows were all open and the overhead fan was on full ball, Shelley immediately jumped on top of them waking them both with a start.

Duncan held back, waiting by the chest of drawers and watching them. What would it have been like with another child thrown into the equation? Would his parents be happier? They looked pretty happy now, tired…. but happy. Once they had got over the shock of Shelley waking them up from deep sleep with a dive bomb they had been very receptive to her rambles about Santa and how many presents were under the tree.

Lexie and Archie motioned for Duncan to come over for a Christmas hug and he accepted, even though he acted like he was getting too old for all this stuff he still secretly craved it.

" Come on now, out you two. We'll meet u under the tree in a minute- and no opening any presents until we come down," Archie ordered with a smile

" Awwww" they both whinged, but obediently tramped back down the stairs, thoughts of 'shaking presents wasn't mentioned' filling their heads.

Archie turned to his wife and shook his head, his smile widening

" Why does it always feel like we only just fell asleep?"

" Because we did" Lexie replied glancing at the clock "We didn't finish putting everything out till 3am cause the brats wouldn't go to sleep"

" Still" Archie mused, standing next to the window as he pulled on a shirt " I love all this stuff, don't you?"

" Yeah" Lexie smiled " But I wish I got more sleep"

" Hmmm" Archie deliberated " Are you sure it's 7am? Seems very dark…."

Lexie wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked at her watch, it read 5am.

" You'd think we'd notice that wouldn't you." She sighed, " They've gone and changed the clocks again"

Archie grinned through his frustration, automatically knowing that this would be funny when the kids were older. " Can we go back to sleep?" He appealed

Lexie smiled wearily " No, they'll never give us any peace until they've opened the presents now"

Archie pouted and collapsed back on the bed, landing on Lexie

" Owww" she complained, and then giggled as she tried to push him off " Get off me you big lump!"

" No" He announced

" Archie!" she commanded

He rolled over and stared at him with big brown eyes. Then grinned as he kissed her quickly on the lips. She grabbed his arm " That the best you can do?" she challenged cheekily

He smirked and kissed her again, softly and deeply moving in closer to her. The door opened " Ewwwww" Shelley exclaimed, bursting into the room for the second time that morning " Come on we're waiting!"

" OK!" Archie yelled, sprawling back into his original position "We're coming"

" That's what you said before" Shelley complained

" Okay. Okay." He grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her out of bed " I'm not doing this alone."

The lounge room smelt of pine from the Christmas tree which was now starting to loose its needles. Archie collapsed in the nearest armchair on arrival and Lexie collapsed on top of him.

" What were they doing?" Duncan asked

" Kissing in bed" Shelley answered pulling a face

" Oh, so didn't need to know that" Duncan replied, turning back to the tree

" Can we opened them now?"

" Go ahead" Lexie replied

Without further adieu they began ripping off the paper and throwing it around the lounge room as they opened their presents. Dolls, cars, video games, books, a cricket set and football, dvd and cds all became visible among the coloured paper mounting up at their feet.

Many exclamations of "Oh", "Wow!" and "Yes!" were heard as new presents were revealed. Lexie looked across at her husband, she had to admit that this was one of the best joys of being a parent; Christmas was just so much more fun through the eyes of a child. Archie smiled at her and she knew that he was thinking exactly the same thing.

After all the presents were unwrapped and the two children were busy piling all the paper into a heap Archie extracted himself from under his wife and whispered in her ear " I'm just going to wish Paul an early Merry Christmas- since its actually so early here I might actually catch him."

" Okay" Lexie agreed, then leant down to collect up her and Archie's presents and put them in their room.


End file.
